VIETNAMESE : Mung hong yn, B Cp Nc, B Cp Vng.

Botany
Kanya pistula is a moderate-sized, erect deciduous tree. Leaves are pinnate, smooth, 30 to 40
centimeters long. Leaflets are ovate, 8 to 16, about 10 centimeters long. Flowers are fragrant and bright
yellow, borne in long, lax racemes 30 to 50 centimeters long, on stalks 3 to 5 centimeters long. Calyx is 6
to 8 millimeters long, smooth and deciduous. Petals are veined, obovate, 18 to 25 millimeters long,
bright yellow, and short-clawed at the base. Stamens are all furnished with anthers, the 2 or 3 lower one
being longer. Fruit is an indehiscent pod, cylindric, 30 to 60 centimeters long, about 2.5 centimeters
thick, dark brown, pendulous, smooth and shiny. Seeds are numerous, 20 to 25, embedded in black,
sweet pulp, completely separated by thin, transverse dissepiments, small, ovoid, slightly compressed,
smooth, shining, and yellowish brown.

Distribution
- From northern Luzon to Mindanao.
- Cultivated as an ornamental flowering tree or sometimes planted for its medicinal properties.
- Native of tropical Asia.
- Introduced to the Philippines.
- Pantropic.

Properties
Considered antitumor, antiperiodic, antioxidant, anti-allergic, anti-diabetic, antibacterial, antipyretic,
laxative, diuretic, purgative, hepatoprotective, and hypocholesterolemic.
Root bark is astringent in taste; the root wood, a bitter sweet flavor.
Flowers are demulcent, purgative and laxative.

Constituents
Tannin; saccharose, 53-66%; invert sugar; citric acid; coloring matter; pectin; anthraquinone.
No alkaloid principle.
Flower and leaf essential oil study yielded 44 compounds. The main components of the flower oil were
(E)-nerolidol (38%) and 2-hexadecanone (17%), while the leaf oil consisted mainly of phytol (16.1%).
Pulp analysis: 20 parts pulp yielded sugar, 12; gum, 1.35; astringent matter; gluten; coloring matter;
and water.
Pulp yields a bitter substance identical to that the cathartina found in senna.
Root-bark and root wood yielded resins.
Oxymethyl-anthraquinone was found in the fruit, 0.95%; fruit pulp, 1.05%; bark and twigs, 1.20%.
Phytochemical screening of leaves yielded alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, glycosides, protein,
amino acids, saponins, and triterpenoids. (29)

 Study for leaf essential oil yielded seven components viz. eugenol (25.0%), (E)-phytol (21.5%),
camphor (13.5%), limonene (11.0%), salicyl alcohol (10.4%), linalool (9.9%), and 4- hydroxybenzyl
alcohol (8.7%). The leaf oil showed antifungal activity against A. niger (MIC = 78 g/mL) and C. albicans
(MIC = 313 g/mL). (see study below) (60)
Studies of various plant parts for secondary metabolites yielded fistucacidin (3,4,7,8,4'pentahydroxyflavan (heartwood), oxyanthraquinone, dihydroxyanthraquinone (bark), (-) epiafzelechin, (-)
epiafzelechin-3-O-glucoside, (-) epicatechin, procyanidin B2, biflavonoids, triflavonoids, rhein, rhein
glucoside, sennoside A, sennoside B, chrysophanol, physcion (leaves), kaempferol, leucopelargonidin
tetramer (with free glycol unit), rhein, fistulin, alkaloids, triterpenes (flowers), rhein, volatile oil, waxy and
resinous derivatives (fruit pulp), istulic acid, 3-formyl-1-hydroxy-8- methoxy anthaquinone, 3B-hydroxy17-norpimar-8(9)-en-15-one (pods), chrysophanol (seeds), rhamnetin-3-O-gentiobioside (roots, leaves,
twigs, bark), proanthocyanidins, flavonoids (flowers, pods). (63)

Parts used
Leaves, roots, fruit, pods.

Uses
Edibility / Nutrition
- Flowers consumed by Santal people of India. (35) In Mizoram, flowers are fired and eaten as
vegetable. In Assam the tender buds and boiled and eaten as vegetable. (62)
- Edible fruit tissue reported to be rich in potassium, calcium, iron and manganese, (Barthakur et al.
1995) (34)
Folkloric
- In the Philippines, decoction of leaves and fruit pulp used as purgative.
- Fruit pulp used as cathartic.
- Extract of fruit pulp used for habitual constipation.
- Leaves, grounded to a paste, are rubbed on ringworm and other fungal skin affections.
- Fruit pulp eaten as laxative, 4-10 segments. In children, used as a convenient purgative because of its
pleasant taste. Pulp considered a safe aperient for children and pregnant women.
- External pod provokes abortion and expulsion of placenta.
- Seeds prescribed as emetic and laxative.
- Powdered leaves are also laxative.
- Young leaves used as mild purgative.
- Roots are given as a tonic and febrifuge; also, a strong purgative. Also used in heart disease, retained
excretions and biliousness.
- Roots sometimes used as laxative.
- Flowers are demulcent, laxative, and purgative. Also used for stomach affections.
- In Rhodesia, used for malaria, blackwater fever, blood poisoning, anthrax and dysentery.
- In Hindu medicine, pulp is used as cathartic.
- Arabs known to used the fruit pulp, in small doses as a mild laxative, in large doses as purgative.
- Fruit pulp also used for febrile and inflammatory affections.
- Folk remedy for burns, cancer, constipation, convulsion, delirium.
- Ayurvedic medicine considers the seed antibilious and carminative; the root used for adenopathy,
leprosy, syphilis, skin diseases; the fruit for abdominal pain, constipation, fever, heart disease, and

leprosy.
- Yunani use the leaves for inflammation; the flowers as purgative, fruit as antiinflammatory, antipyretic,
abortifacient.
- In India used for snake bites.
- In Nepal fruit is used as antipyretic and to treat constipation; leaves used to treat jaundice,
hemorrhoids, rheumatism, ulcers, insect bites.
- In Rhodesia, pulp used for anthrax, blood poisoning, blackwater fever, dysentery and malaria.
- Externally, pulp is applied to gout and rheumatism.
- In Hindu medicine, pulp used as cathartic and aperient.
- Decoction of pulp used for hoarseness.
- In the Gold Coast, pulp used as purgative.
- In the Far East, uncooked pulp of pods used for constipation.
- In Concan, young leaves used for ringworm.
- In Thai traditional medicine, long used as a laxative drug.
Others
- Ornamental: Planted as an ornamental tree.
- Fuel: In Mexico, used as fuel wood.
- Dye / Tannin: Bark used in tanning.
- Timber: Reddish wood is hard and heavy, weighing 800 kg/cu.m; strong and durable, suitable for
cabinetry, posts, implements, wheels, mortar, inlay work. (35)